The Princess of Robotropolis
by Ceara Ivory
Summary: Robotnik decides to subvert the prophecy by treating Sonia as his own daughter as she grows up with the intention of using her loyalty to him as his chief weapon against Aleena. However, raising a child tends to change a person.


The Princess of Robotropolis

A Sonic Underground fanfiction

Summary: Robotnik decides to subvert the prophecy by treating Sonia as his own daughter as she grows up with the intention of using her loyalty to him as his chief weapon against Aleena. However, raising a child tends to change a person.

Chapter 1

Dr. Robotnik hated hedgehogs. He hated hedgehogs with a passion. He knew it was wrong. He knew it wasn't fair for him to hate all hedgehogs but he didn't care. When the aristocracy gave him the means and the approval to challenge the hedgehog family, which ruled over the beautiful city of Mobotropolis, he wasted no time in using his army of SwatBots to lay siege to the royal palace.

As the palace burned around him and servants fled, Robotnik had but one goal, to destroy them. He killed King Jules with ease, taking perverse pleasure in using Jules' own sword to do the job. As he stood over their bodies, he heard the amethyst queen cry out in despair as she fought to stay standing. He knew that despair. He saw the children in her arms; three small kits in three different colors, pink, blue and green, and allowed himself to feel guilty for the briefest of moments. He stood and sheathed his sword. He could not harm children.

Aleena clearly was torn between grieving her husband, fighting him and fleeing but when her youngest stirred and cried, she could only turn and run. Robotnik resolved that if she kept going and didn't look back, he would be content with this victory. The kingdom was his. He quickly used his roboticizer to enslave the few insurgents left who could challenge him, turning them into mindless robots. His reign was established and the city renamed, Robotropolis.

At last, he stood on the balcony of the palace. In his arms, a young mink-boy of just under two years old wearing a salmon jacket and green shorts looked out over the city. His eyes held awe at how much he was able to see from this balcony. He held out a finger, pointing.

"Yes, Bartleby, my godson… I can see too. It's vast. And it is ours. One day, you will be king." He promised him. "And Robotropolis will forget the hedgehog family ever existed." The boy didn't know what he was talking about but he leaned his head against his shoulder in complete trust. "Everything the light touches…"

However, it wasn't going to be easy. Sir Charles Hedgehog was still alive and apparently still plotting if the complaints of harassment for people to join a resistance faction were any indication. He would need to find the hedgehog knight, brother of the now-dead king, and roboticize him.

And one early morning, as the sun was beginning its ascent, a light brightened his room and woke him up. "Robotnik!" A green anteater wearing a deep black shroud waved his hand and froze him in place. "I am the Oracle of Delphius. I have been watching you… I bring a prophecy… You have been gifted with great intelligence and the ability to use it. You have the potential to lead this kingdom to great prosperity and wealth. However, you also have the potential to out and out destroy this entire world. The choice is yours. You could be remembered as a great man or you could end up wiped from this universe with no one to mourn you. Aleena's children will one day return and how you handle it will determine your fate. And that of your godson."

Robotnik growled as he burst free of the spell. "Are you threatening me!" He demanded as he leaped at the seer. However, the Oracle simply vanished from sight and appeared on the opposite end of the room.

"Not at all. It is simply a warning of the future. How it unfolds is all up to you now." The Oracle grinned. "I wish you luck."

Robotnik shook his head. "If you're here to warn me, then you can give me more of a clue than that. Tell me what I must do to protect my regime." How do I protect him?

"You will know what to do soon… the answer will present itself to you. Whether or not you recognize it… that's on you…" The Oracle vanished from sight.

The doctor looked at the empty spot as he heard Bartleby begin to fuss. He went to the boy's crib and picked him up. "Soon, you'll be ready to start getting out of bed on your own, maybe even your own room."

A door opened to a robotic household servant. "Sir, Lady Wyndemere to see you…" The servant said plainly.

Robotnik nodded. "I'll be down in a moment, Rosie. Serve tea and breakfast for the three of us in the parlor." He instructed.

"It should be breakfast for four, sir. She has a child with her." The servant informed him. She rolled over and made the despot's bed. "The most adorable little hedgehog kit." She giggled before rolling over to pat Bartleby's head gently with her robot hand. "And how is the young master today?"

Robotnik rolled his eyes as Bartleby laughed at the matronly robot. "He is ready for his first-morning attempt on the you-know-what, then dress him and bring him to the parlor, the usual routine." He handed the child off to her and got ready for the day himself.

When he arrived in the parlor, a canine woman sat with a baby hedgehog wrapped in her arms. Virginia Wyndmere, Countess of Eldin, wore her brown hair in a dual beehive up-do with a small coronet. The hedgehog in her arms was as fuschia as a rose petal and her hair and spikes were a lighter pink.

Robotnik saw the baby in her arms and felt his proverbial hackles rise. "Lady Wyndemere, forgive me. I had only just woken." He explained. "May I ask what this is?"

The canine curtseyed to the best of her ability while safely holding the kit. "I was awoken last night to a knock on my door and I found this little darling outside. No note, nothing to even tell me her name. No sign of her parents."

Robotnik nodded as he looked down at the baby. Here was one of the three children of his nemesis. Though she was hardly responsible for the sins of her father. "I know who she is." He indicated the medallion. "One of the royal medallions…" He turned it over. "Sonia is her name."

Lady Wyndemere gasped. "The princess… but why would Aleena abandon her child? And she had three? Where are the other two?" She asked.

Robotnik shook his head. "I'm sure that I don't know…" I ought to roboticize this child before she can grow to be a threat to me. "She better not be planning on trying to retake this throne."

The countess nodded. "Don't worry Julian. She can't. We chose you and Jules deserved what he got. Now, that said... I want to adopt her to make her my daughter. I've been so lonely since Percival died."

Robotnik considered it. On the one hand, if Aleena was planning something she may have placed her heiress there with the intention of using her in some manner. But where were her brothers? This hedgehog princess had the potential to ruin everything. On the other hand, if he was a regular presence in her life… Perhaps he could gain her loyalty and turn her against Aleena. Perhaps this was the answer...

"Very well… but if you will allow it, I would like to be a father figure in her life. Since it is my fault that she doesn't have one." He suggested. "She can call me dad."

Lady Wyndemere nodded. It wasn't really a suggestion and they both knew it. "Would you like to hold her? She is just precious."

The old man took the kit in his arms. She stared up at him and he could swear he saw stars in them, they were so black. She reached up and grabbed his mustache with curiosity. "Ah!" He yelped, making the baby cry. "Well, I guess I'm going to need to trim that down again." He and Lady Wyndemere shared a laugh as Rosie came in with a clean and dressed Bartleby.

"Here is the little master, sire. And he is ready for his breakfast." She put the child down at his side. "Have a good breakfast with your godfather, little one."

Lady Wyndemere cooed. "Awww, is little Bartleby? Oh my, he already has his father's long golden hair." She giggled.

Robotnik sat down with Sonia still in his arms. Bartleby looked at the new baby. "Oooo bee-bee…" He said with fascination as he reached out a little finger to touch her cheek.

"That's correct, boy. This is your new friend, Sonia. And yes, Lady Wyndemere, this is indeed Bartleby. His parents entrusted me with his care when they died." He explained as his eyes became dark, his hand clenching in anger and grief.

Lady Wyndemere reached out to touch his hand. "They would be happy to see how well he is growing. I'm sure he and Sonia will be the best of friends."

The Oracle returned to his cave home with its bookcases. He stoked the fire and placed a fresh log on making the room a comfortable warmth for the reptilian anteater. He could not afford to let the cold of the frozen tundra enter his home.

He went to his cauldron and looked in. First, he focused on the elder son, the one who looked so much like his father.

He was being rocked and fed by a young vixen while her husband sat and admired the baby they had found on their step. "Oh, Arthur, this is a miracle… We finally have our child…"

The fox nodded as he reached out to stroke the boy's blue spikes. "Yes, we do. Our precious child. Thank you Mother Inari… thank you… And his medallion says, Sonic. A fitting name for how fast he ran inside the house" He laughed boisterously.

The Oracle smiled in approval before waving his hand to change it to show the younger son who was being held close by a giant roach. A rat with wild yellow hair wearing a ragged tunic bowed. "Lord Ferrell, what would you have us do with him? I just found him abandoned outside a home. Should he join the other orphans?"

"No… I can see such innocence in his eyes. There is something special about him. He will be my son." The green hedgehog kit clung to the roach as if in agreement. "Maybe this is what I've been missing." He said soft enough that only the Oracle could hear it.

Finally, he turned the cauldron's view towards the little princess. He saw Robotnik tenderly holding the princess as he had previously viewed him holding his godson. Maybe there was hope. Hope for all of Mobius and its people.

A purple light flashed as a hedgehog with fur the shade of fresh lavender and hair of a deep amethyst cascading down back appeared. Her long white dress and purple and yellow cape trailed the floor. "Oracle, I have done as you said. Are my children safe?"

The Oracle nodded as she approached. "They are…" He smiled as he stepped aside, ready for her reaction as she looked at Robotnik holding her daughter with a little boy by his side playing peekaboo.

"What! You… you tricked me!" She shouted as she turned on him. She lifted her staff but before she could cast, she found herself frozen and staring down a fiery glare. "You said they would be safe."

"And they are safe. You deceived me, Aleena. You act the victim but now your children are safe and your kingdom is safe." He waved his hand and trapped her in a mirror.

"You won't be able to keep me here forever Oracle! Mobotropolis will be mine again. And I will get my children back." Aleena vowed. "And Robotnik will pay."

* * *

Robotnik held the little princess in his arms while Lady Wyndermere read to Bartleby from an antique story book. He chuckled to himself. "_I have your daughter Aleena. You have lost."_ Dark laughter continued.

AN: How will Robotnik handle raising a little girl? Will he be able to maintain his tough exterior?


End file.
